I'm a Mom.

I'm finally a mom! My baby boy was born on May 28th, 2011 at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long! I love him so much. Unlike any other love I've ever felt in my entire life. I wouldn't trade this kind of love for anyone or anything in the world. <3

Now, for those of you who want to know, I can tell you what MY labor felt like. I can also assure you that it won't be the same for everyone. Women's bodies are very strong and can do just about anything. Labor is MEANT for women and I am sure every woman is strong enough to go through labor as long as they reassure themselves they can. Don't psyche yourself out. It definitely doesn't help whatsoever, and it only makes things harder. Give yourself positive thoughts and positive surroundings and you'll have a great labor ahead of you.

My son's name is Blake Anthony Renaud. So, I will now refer to him as Blake throughout the rest of this post. :)

I started laboring around 3AM on May 27th. My contractions were getting pretty intense, but they were about 30 minutes apart. They were intense, but they didn't exactly hurt yet. I was still able to walk around and talk to people and stuff. However, when one would come, I would have to make sure I was breathing through it, and most of the time it was really uncomfortable to sit. I made sure I was walking around as much as possible, but I also had to remind myself that I didn't know how long of a labor I was going to be in, so I wanted to make myself try to get some rest before any of it began. I would sleep in 30 minute increments because the contractions were getting a little stronger and were able to wake me up after a while.

After waiting a while, the contractions were getting to the point that I didn't want to sit or stand anymore, I just wanted to lie down and relax. This is when I decided to call my doctor. (The main reason I wanted to call was because I felt uncomfortable just lying on the couch - I couldn't imagine waiting longer and the contractions getting worse and me having to ride in a car!) I will admit, car rides suck when contractions are intensifying, and they suck even more when the person decides to go fast over bumps and stuff too. Let me also say this really quickly - labor is NOT an emergency. You shouldn't panic just because you are going into labor, and no one around you should panic either. It's a natural thing that has been happening for the same amount of time that humans and every other mammal has been in existence. Labor is something we were made for ladies! Stop being afraid of it!

Anyway, I called my doctor and told her that my contractions are about 5-10 minutes apart now and they're pretty intense. She asked me to come to Geisinger Grays Woods so she could check my dilation. Sure enough, we arrived there and I was 3 1/2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. My contractions were more intense now and it was getting harder for me to walk through them. The car ride from Geisinger to the hospital was awful for me. We stopped at Sheetz to eat, because once I would arrive at the hospital, I wouldn't be allowed to eat anything except for ice chips. Then we were on our way to the hospital.

By time we arrived, I slowly got out of the car and my mother was helping me walk across the parking lot. I kept having to pause every now and then because of the contractions. Then, Kyle got to me with a wheelchair and I sat without arguing. The wheelchair honestly didn't feel any better than walking, so either way, I was content. They took me into my room and a doctor checked how dilated I was again. I was to about 4 cm by that point. The contractions were definitely getting intense. It wasn't a normal pain type of feeling, it was kind of like someone was grabbing my uterus and twisting it. I know that might sound weird. I'm sure some people wonder how you can feel like someone is grabbing and twisting your uterus when you've never felt such a thing, but that's the only way I know how to explain it. It really felt like someone was grabbing, twisting, pulling and yanking at my uterus. That's what a contraction feels like. It's a steady amount of pain, but it is rather painful to me. My sister didn't think the contractions were painful though, so like I said, it's not like it will definitely feel painful to you either. You could have an easy labor. It's true! :)

I went through 11 hours of labor (in the hospital) and had Blake at 1:10AM on May 28th. I know some of you are probably thinking that I had a rather long labor. Honestly, I kind of did, only because my contractions started at 3AM the day before. Here's the other thing though, I definitely didn't feel like I had an 11 hour labor. It felt like I was there for maybe like 3 hours or so. That's it - I'm not even joking. Time went by really fast.

By time I hit 7cm, I realized that I wasn't sure if I could make the rest of the labor without sleep. I was to the point that I was hyperventilating because of my contractions being so intense. They were wearing me out and I just reached the point that I was crying a lot. I was really tired and didn't know how to handle it anymore, so I asked for the epidural. They gave me some type of pain medication through my heplock first to hold me off until the guy got there to give me my epidural. Honestly, all that did was make me loopy. It's true that it took the edge off of the pain, but it was only because I was loopy. Then, when the epidural guy got there, they made me put my arms around the nurse and lean against her. The epidural going in wasn't painful. It surprised me and I did a little jump because I didn't know when it was going to go in, but that was it. No pain.

After my epidural, I could still feel my contractions a little, but a lot of it went away. I was finally able to sleep. After getting some sleep, my nurse checked me again and I had progressed rather quickly from 7cm to 10cm. This is the reason I would recommend the epidural to most people. I was trying to wait it out for as long as I could, but the problem was that I couldn't relax because of the contractions being so intense, therefore, my body wasn't progressing as quickly. Some women can relax through the contractions, but I just wasn't one of them. Like I said, everyone's bodies are different.

My nurse asked me if I was ready to push. I said I was. She started telling me when to push, but after a while, I didn't need her to. I could feel when I needed to push, I just wanted to listen to her the majority of the time. So, after a little while went by, I just started pushing whenever I thought I needed to. It worked out a lot better. I felt the urge to push, and I felt like I needed to push when I felt the need to! Once I started pushing on my command rather than the nurse's, I progressed a lot faster. I just want to make a note here that pushing DID NOT HURT. It was relieving and I didn't feel any pain whatsoever. I didn't tear either - and I think 2 things helped me to NOT tear. My nurse helped my birth canal stretch by massaging it with oil. I believe that helped a lot! Also, I think it helped that I was pushing on my command rather than the doctor's or the nurse's. I definitely believe those things helped me prevent tearing.

I must go now. I have a baby to tend to! :) And he's getting a little fussy. I think he wants some booby!!! :)